EmptyVessel

He would have learned as a carpenter that for stability you always need to start with a solid base. Patience - (one step at a time) each is done with the purpose of achieving a positive end result. Integrity/honesty/reliability - (an honest days work, for an honest days pay); reliability, others depend upon a jop well done and completed on time. When putting your talents to use, use them with Integrity, honesty and reliability Measure twice, cut once. Everything we do and say effect others so Measure what come out of your mouth and cut the judgement and ridicule.

Hi everyone, My name is Tracy and I am from Petrolia, Ontario Canada. This is my first online Bible study, I have been involved in a number of group Bible studies over the last few years. I am Catholic, however not a cradle Catholic. I joined the Catholic Church about 10 years ago. I am still learning new things about the Catholic faith and look forward to learning more. I stumbled on to the site completely be accident or at least I thought it was accidental.

Q5. (Luke 1:42-43) In what sense are the titles "Blessed Virgin Mary" and "Mother of God" appropriate for Mary? Why are we sometimes hesitant to exalt her as "blessed among women"? The titles are appropriate because she was chosen by God to become the Mother of Himself. We are sometimes hesitant to exalt her as "blessed among women" because of the fear of taking our eyes off of Jesus. However, we can't forget the magnatude of what took place. I believe there is a differance (although a very fine line) between exalting Mary and worshiping Her. Maybe the key is in the wording "blessed among women". She is indeed blessed among women because of all the women that could have been chosen, God chose her. When God choses us to carry out a task, do we not count ourselves blessed? As a matter of fact, when God choses us to carry out even the simplist tasks do we not consider ourselves blessed to serve him. This was an enourmous task Mary was chosen for, if you consider all the ramifications that could have come from this (her own life was in jepordy) she totally surrendered herself to Him without question. How many of us can say that when God blesses us with a task we immediately jump right in without first saying "you want me to do what" or "are you kidding me"? "Blessed among women".....indeed

The essance of Mary's response was total submission. She trusted in God completely. Even though the stigma of conceiving a child out of wedlock would be attached. We can learn a number of things from her repsonse but the most prevelent is, having enough faith to trust where God leads us. We may not always understand or for that matter want to follow his plan for us but, when we submit to his will, we can not fail. Mary's informed consent Luke 1 38 "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" When we respond to God we consent to his will "Let thine will be done" I can't imagine how many missed opportunties I have had in my life time by not submitting myself to God's will.